A small group at the Bell Center had a spirited back-and-forth about proposed fee increases for Joshua Tree National Park. Reporter Dan Stork says that Superintendent David Smith received some strong messages and constructive suggestions…
David Smith, the Superintendent of Joshua Tree National Park, started the town meeting on proposed Park fee increases by giving a history of fees, and explaining congressional constraints under which the National Park System operates. He said that the fee increases that have been publicized recently are nationally-issued guidelines, which differ according to the category of site: major, big, smaller, smallest. (Joshua Tree is a Category 3, or big, site.) Smith has some latitude in altering those guidelines, and plans to use public feedback in doing so.
Meeting attendees objected most strenuously to the motorcycle fee increase, with one person recommending a per-person fee. A day-use fee, distinct from the 7-day entry fee, was suggested; Smith explained that Congress does not allow that. Also not allowed is another suggested innovation: reduced fees for local residents. Smith said that locals might talk to Congressmen Cook and Ruiz to pursue changes there. Another attendee suggested that group camping fees be raised to match the group campground capacity; it was predicted that that action would result in groups descending on clusters of family sites.
Smith anticipates that whatever increases are decided upon will likely take effect in the spring of 2015.
Back in 1915, it cost $5 to get into Yosemite, and $7.50 to enter Yellowstone, numbers that translate to hundreds of dollars in today’s money. In the 1920s and 1930s, Congress required that fees be reduced so that average citizens could afford to visit the National Parks. But the fees that were collected went into the general fund, and were not retained by the park system. In the 1990s, exploding visitor counts and declining Congressional support led to a Demonstration Fee Program, which has been repeatedly renewed and expanded. Less than 7 percent of the cost nationwide of running the National Parks comes from fees, with the rest coming from Congressional appropriations. About two-thirds of the parks do not charge fees. In some cases, this is due to the influence of powerful Congress members; for others, the cost of collecting fees would outweigh the income derived. At least one site—Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota—gets around a prohibition against admission fees by charging a parking lot fee.
